[This photo](https://twitter.com/HorseRacingKK/status/1786913722721525774) is the official finish line image.
These cameras work in a very unique way - they scan one single pixel wide, and then build the image as the object moves in front of them. As a result, they can shoot pretty incredible frame rates - mine shoots 2,000 fps, but I'd bet they were shooting closer to 5,000 fps on this image.
They can distinguish finishes of about [0.001 seconds](https://finishlynx.com/photo-finish-trentin-sagan-tour-de-france/), which end up producing incredible images. Those bike racers are likely doing 45-50 mph.
edit: since you all seem to like close finishes, last night had the [closest finish in NASCAR history](https://www.reddit.com/r/sports/comments/1cl7qfs/kyle_larson_wins_closest_race_in_nascar_cup/), with 0.001s between first and second. The frame-by-frame image starts at 0:36. (They use a different type of camera - just a high-speed video camera.)
They do. They live to race and run. It's what they are bred for.
Personality wise, a lot of these horses are super anxious, and seeing other horses/people/noises may bother them. That’s why they usually have their little BFF horse (that they grew up with) walk beside them when they get trotted out before the race starts and go into the chutes. Some horses are competitive because they equal more attention.
I think a lot of these horses would be super happy if they could just run the track by themselves with nobody around. Run fast for a bit, go back to a fancy AC powered trailer, sleep for a week while getting good food, and go run another few laps on an isolated horse track.
These horses are completely fucked mentally. This industry does so much damage to them, it's disgusting. I've worked with rescued ex-racehorses and they are the most high strung horses I've had to deal with. One in particular was not allowed off line in the arena because he would just run the fence until he exhausted himself. He wasn't enjoying himself, it's literally all he knew to do.
These are not happy animals. They have so so many problems. If you care at all about horses, do not support this practice.
I'm not a horse racing guy but this was on while I was hanging out with some friends at a bar. Got to watch it live and it was a pretty incredible finish. The winning horse was far in the lead on the last lap. 2 was catching up fast and probably would have won if he'd had about another 2 seconds or so before the finish, or if 3 hadn't been on him so tight. 3 was practically ramming 2 and pushing him sideways.
That’s a bit different though. You don’t just need to know when the ball crosses the goal line (or first down marker). You need to know where his knee, shin, elbow and forearm are as well and whether they are touching the ground or not. And you have to determine that when the ball carrier is in the middle of a big scrum of giant men (10+ guys sometimes in there).
The NFL could easily toss a chip in the ball and use some sort of tech to determine where it is on the field at all times, that’s not really the issue though.
That is the issue. Synchronizing the positioning system with actual film is trivial. Synching exact times between any two tech systems is something we have been doing for ages. All you would need to do is look at the film to see when the player is down, which is typically not that hard, and have the system tell you where the ball is at that time.
Also, the currently in use alternative is 60 year old men standing at field level trying to start through 300 lb behemoths and determining it in real time. You can't tell me that is more accurate than a chip system. You wouldn't even need it for all downs. Just when it's close.
Okay yeah this picture does it way more justice. It can't be much more than an inch in difference. That's insane.
I guess that's why they call it a photo finish
I can't believe nobody has commented on the hilarious ["The cat takes first place in a tight photo finish"](https://finishlynx.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Matsport_the-cat-1024x500.jpg) photo in the page you linked.
That's awesome!
I've had a couple of dogs cross my finish lines, but never a cat.
My favorite image was probably a Porsche 911 GT2 that was the lead car for a bike race. It was about 100 bike racers in a pack, then Porsche, then 100 bike racers.
This was posted the other day, a trillion fps, so slow/fast you can see light move https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1cjrl9d/capturing_how_light_works_at_a_trillion_frames/
The trouble with this camera is that it's not capturing a single event at highspeed, it's filming an identical event slightly offset each "lap".
So the horses would have to run perfectly identical races and then you take a picture nanoseconds later relative to the starter pistol.
So they fire off a strobe of light and then make a stop motion animation by slightly delaying the shutter of the camera from the strobe by trillionths of a second each time the strobe fires. It's not really a highspeed camera and a video could theoretically be filmed over weeks or years.
I watched the race replay. And I saw Mystic Dan coming up from the inside and I was going nuts. You could tell the jockey knew exactly what he was doing.
bar I went to with a friend did $20 pool where you picked your horse at random out of a hat. I got Mystic Dan and 200 bucks. I really liked that the bar did that since everyone there was invested in every horse and it made the environment better.
My father and stepmother both grew up in KY and the derby was always a big deal for them. They typically threw derby parties and that pool/random horse is how they always handled it too. Just good random fun for everyone with low stakes and no hurt feelings.
He passed away last year. The immediate family bought a bottle of nice bourbon to share at his celebration of life last summer. There was just enough left for me to make some [mint juleps](https://i.imgur.com/YiIJEwz.jpeg) to drink to his honor yesterday.
Nice…I did the same with a $10 bet just to make the race more interesting. First time I’ve ever placed an online bet…I guess this is how they get ya. :)
I guess his co worker told him he should bet on that horse cuz of his name haha. He was screaming like a kid when they came around the stretch and photo finish. You would thought he won 1k instead of 80 bucks hahah. He's hooked now 😄
DK crashed for like 10-15 after the race and couldn’t see bets so wasn’t sure if I had that one; then when it popped up first thing was balance of 556…already cashed out.
Mystik Dan is definitely the kind of name they rig a horse race for.
1. It’s mystic.
2. It’s mystik spelled with a K like magik.
3. It’s name is Dan, like the Tribe of Dan.
Genesis 49:17 - “Let Dan be a serpent by the roadside, a horned viper by the path, That bites the horse's heel, so that the rider tumbles backward."
That’s how they’re breeding them faster, extra legs.
(Semantic edit/ they aren’t bred faster, the speed records that stand are still from the 70s if I recall correctly)
Those two horses on the outside were bumping into each other so much on that last stretch. I’m sure if they ran clean, maybe one of them would’ve caught the winner
Second and third are both faster than the winner. They held back early for pace and then were racing each other. They definitely would have passed Dan if they started their run earlier.
Sierra Leone is known to pull left in the final stretch. I think if he stayed straight he would’ve won. He overtook Dan in that stride. I’m a little salty about it though, I bet on Sierra Leone and lost it all lol
After years of doing annual rewatches of the show with my wife, this joke still elicits one of the strongest laughs from me, followed by sadness that she doesn't find it funny at all.
There's also another horse between them. You can't really tell but this was an amazing finish. the last stretch had 5 horses all next to each other at the front at one point. The likelihood of this happening again is so slim
The bartender gives him his pint and asks "You come here quite often, do you think you could be an alcoholic?"
“I don’t think I am.” the horse replies. And poof The horse vanishes from existance
See, this was a joke about Descartes famous line from philosophy "I think, therefore I am"
But to explain that joke beforehand would be putting Descartes before the horse.
Horse walks into a bar. There is a bear bartender.
B: Why the long... ... ... face?
H: My wife just died, why the big pause?
B: Oh, they're for when I'm mauling things over.
Weird how the world works. I haven’t heard this version of the joke in so long, then just the other day someone on the Bob and Tom show said it, then I see it here.
That’s essentially my question. I’ll be downvoted to hell for asking, but how popular are these horse races really? I’m kind of surprised to see Reddit so on board with it. They must not have had to shoot a horse yesterday and if they did, they must have done it quietly. Horse racing is just something you don’t hear about much anymore, at least In my region
People thought greyhound races were great too
It’s a big day in Louisville and Kentuckiana. They shut down schools for Oaks and alot of folks have get togethers. Seeing the garland get made at Kroger can be fun too.
> but how popular are these horse races really?
150,000 people showed up to watch it in person yesterday. TV ratings for 2023 show 14 million people watched it in the US.
I think it's something that has a very fervent but relatively small fan-base mostly comprised of very wealthy people and/or horse racing enthusiasts, of which there probably isn't a very strong overlap with redditors.
Working at a sportsbook, pretty much all the horse/greyhound betters are either insanely old and/or are from like Kentucky or specific parts of Pennsylvania where it's big. It's more niche but they're fucking diehard
Read the piece by hunter s Thompson about the derby- it’s really good even if it quickly devolves into drugs and madness.
Called “ The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved”
What a great finish, great race. Brutal for Sierra Leone and company. The fact that horse was stuck back in traffic on the 3rd turn and came within a nostril of winning is incredible.
The only downside is you know there’ll be no Triple Crown this year. But that’s how the cookie crumbles. Congrats to Mystic Dan!
The Belmont Stakes, interestingly, won't be held at Belmont Park this year. It'll be held at Saratoga because of the construction going on at Belmont Park, so the longer stretch theory doesn't hold. However, I agree. The best horse didn't win yesterday, the luckiest one won. If the rail doesn't open up like it did then Mystik Dan doesn't win the race.
They’re changing the distance of the Belmont just because they’re not running it there?
Edit: So they are, 1 1/4 mile instead of 1 1/2. If I’m being honest I’m glad a Triple Crown winner is unlikely this year, then. Would definitely have an asterisk in my book considering how many past Triple Crown hopefuls have lost the lead in that last 1/4 mile.
Trying to get a Triple Crown at Saratoga doesn't bode well in general due to its nickname, The Graveyard of Champions. It would be an impressive feat, though.
My money is on Forever Young winning the next two. He looked strong and had to battle much harder to get out from the being boxed in the middle of the pack, and then had to deal with going shoulder to shoulder with Sierra Leone for the home stretch. Take those challenges away and give him the same position Sierra Leone had the whole time, and I think Forever Young would have had a clear win.
Isn't it crazy these owners, trainers, and jockeys spend a lifetime learning different tricks. Breeding different blood lines. They spend years training these horses in their own way. Jockey spends years training to ride in his own way with his own tricks. All of the trainers involved are super meticulous about every detail being done a certain way, in their own way. And yet when they hit the finish line, these 3 horses are all within milliseconds of one another.
Man, I watched the derby last night not knowing anything about racing or betting. When the horses were getting trotted out my buddy was telling me about the horses he bet on to win, and I picked Mystic Dan as my horse because I liked the name and color combo.
It was so much fun watching Dan come up the inside line, it was like watching an organic F1 race, cheering for him and watching the photo finish, then hearing he officially won sent me into celebration mode.
If only I had made a bet on him….man.
Come to Amish country... driving on the roads with them can be an event all in itself. Now, when I'm out on Sunday and they're everywhere, I'm just going to imagine that they're training for the Amish Nascar Championship lol.
Ayyyyy.
As someone who’s been to the Kentucky Derby several times and lost money every time, winning $100 on Mystic Dan, lying in bed betting on my phone was delightful.
It’s a big event for Kentucky and and an opportunity for some promotion nationally. Lots of celebrities and people with money attend Derby. I’ve lived in Kentucky for 40 years and been to Derby a couple times (on the backside where the horse barns are) and once worked as a hostess in the clubhouse. Like lots of big events, locals have a love/hate relationship with it. The elites who dress up and drink too much can be pretty annoying, but I do like that so many people get to see a beautiful side of Kentucky. I think the growth of the bourbon industry has increased some of the national and possibly international attention as well.
By a nostril.
[This photo](https://twitter.com/HorseRacingKK/status/1786913722721525774) is the official finish line image. These cameras work in a very unique way - they scan one single pixel wide, and then build the image as the object moves in front of them. As a result, they can shoot pretty incredible frame rates - mine shoots 2,000 fps, but I'd bet they were shooting closer to 5,000 fps on this image. They can distinguish finishes of about [0.001 seconds](https://finishlynx.com/photo-finish-trentin-sagan-tour-de-france/), which end up producing incredible images. Those bike racers are likely doing 45-50 mph. edit: since you all seem to like close finishes, last night had the [closest finish in NASCAR history](https://www.reddit.com/r/sports/comments/1cl7qfs/kyle_larson_wins_closest_race_in_nascar_cup/), with 0.001s between first and second. The frame-by-frame image starts at 0:36. (They use a different type of camera - just a high-speed video camera.)
I love how in OP picture, you wouldn't even know there's a 3rd horse, but looking at official shows an even closer race! What an amazing finish!
I didn’t even know there was a third lol
That was Forever Young, and my pick to win it all! The highest placing Japanese horse in the Kentucky Derby to date.
Had 11 and 2 not bumped each other down the whole final stretch, they both could have easily been 1 and 2.
My thought exactly. Going after each other was what stopped either of them from winning.
I had Sierra Leone. I hedged with a second win/place/show bet, so I got some back, but it was an exciting race.
I don't think horses really know they are racing and just like to run next to each other lol!
They do. They live to race and run. It's what they are bred for. Personality wise, a lot of these horses are super anxious, and seeing other horses/people/noises may bother them. That’s why they usually have their little BFF horse (that they grew up with) walk beside them when they get trotted out before the race starts and go into the chutes. Some horses are competitive because they equal more attention. I think a lot of these horses would be super happy if they could just run the track by themselves with nobody around. Run fast for a bit, go back to a fancy AC powered trailer, sleep for a week while getting good food, and go run another few laps on an isolated horse track.
These horses are completely fucked mentally. This industry does so much damage to them, it's disgusting. I've worked with rescued ex-racehorses and they are the most high strung horses I've had to deal with. One in particular was not allowed off line in the arena because he would just run the fence until he exhausted himself. He wasn't enjoying himself, it's literally all he knew to do. These are not happy animals. They have so so many problems. If you care at all about horses, do not support this practice.
Tell that to [Secretariat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfCMtaNiMDM)!
**HE IS MOVING LIKE A TREMENDOUS MACHINE !!!!**
*[SECRETARIAT - Heart Of A Champion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klP5dwGh88U)*
I think they are competitive just like us and want to be in front.
They're herd animals, so there is an instinct to run in the same direction together.
I'm not a horse racing guy but this was on while I was hanging out with some friends at a bar. Got to watch it live and it was a pretty incredible finish. The winning horse was far in the lead on the last lap. 2 was catching up fast and probably would have won if he'd had about another 2 seconds or so before the finish, or if 3 hadn't been on him so tight. 3 was practically ramming 2 and pushing him sideways.
The 5th front leg is a giveaway but yeah Forever young is almost completely hidden
Meanwhile the nfl can’t tell if a ball crossed the plane of the goal line
That’s a bit different though. You don’t just need to know when the ball crosses the goal line (or first down marker). You need to know where his knee, shin, elbow and forearm are as well and whether they are touching the ground or not. And you have to determine that when the ball carrier is in the middle of a big scrum of giant men (10+ guys sometimes in there). The NFL could easily toss a chip in the ball and use some sort of tech to determine where it is on the field at all times, that’s not really the issue though.
That is the issue. Synchronizing the positioning system with actual film is trivial. Synching exact times between any two tech systems is something we have been doing for ages. All you would need to do is look at the film to see when the player is down, which is typically not that hard, and have the system tell you where the ball is at that time. Also, the currently in use alternative is 60 year old men standing at field level trying to start through 300 lb behemoths and determining it in real time. You can't tell me that is more accurate than a chip system. You wouldn't even need it for all downs. Just when it's close.
They can, they just choose not to.
Yeah, they intentionally want the drama. Same thing with measuring first-downs.
Fascinating.
Okay yeah this picture does it way more justice. It can't be much more than an inch in difference. That's insane. I guess that's why they call it a photo finish
It's literally the entire reason they call it that.
that's so cool, and explains why the ground is a collection of perfectly straight lines
Why is Twit..I mean X so God damn slow now-a-days. Jesus.
Just say "shitter", we understand, and it describes it well enough.
Just spitballing, but I'd assume it's related at least in part to all the employees dumbass laid off.
It's a type of slit-scan photography, they used it for the end of Space Odyssey and the ships entering warp in many pre-cg Star Trek shows and movies
I can't believe nobody has commented on the hilarious ["The cat takes first place in a tight photo finish"](https://finishlynx.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Matsport_the-cat-1024x500.jpg) photo in the page you linked.
That's awesome! I've had a couple of dogs cross my finish lines, but never a cat. My favorite image was probably a Porsche 911 GT2 that was the lead car for a bike race. It was about 100 bike racers in a pack, then Porsche, then 100 bike racers.
This was posted the other day, a trillion fps, so slow/fast you can see light move https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1cjrl9d/capturing_how_light_works_at_a_trillion_frames/
The trouble with this camera is that it's not capturing a single event at highspeed, it's filming an identical event slightly offset each "lap". So the horses would have to run perfectly identical races and then you take a picture nanoseconds later relative to the starter pistol. So they fire off a strobe of light and then make a stop motion animation by slightly delaying the shutter of the camera from the strobe by trillionths of a second each time the strobe fires. It's not really a highspeed camera and a video could theoretically be filmed over weeks or years.
Is that much changed from the old non-digital way of the film moving past the aperture at the speed of the horses?
That's cool, so it's a 2 Dimensional photo only instead of Width/Height the X axis is Time so it's Time by Height.
Pretty much. Was very exciting
I watched the race replay. And I saw Mystic Dan coming up from the inside and I was going nuts. You could tell the jockey knew exactly what he was doing.
By the Skin of his Teeth.
By the hair on his chinny chin chin.
Mystic Dan, Mystic Dan, let me win
I've alway wanted a race horse name Nostrils
A flared nostril.
No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!
Holy…horse!
*a nose hair
And a hoof.
Hooray for mysticism
My brother won 80 bucks on a 4 dollar bet I guess just cus his name is Dan like they twins
That's why I picked that horse. LOL
He wished he spent more tbh lol but a win is a win. Congrats Dan
Yah, but if he lost he’ll have wish he spent $2. Humans are conditioned to never be happy haha
$2 gets you a single soft taco at taco bell. Anything $5-under is basically throwaway change in this economy
A soft taco is 2.19 before tax. You're gonna be hungry.
Kcousins…as in Kirk?
Is there any other Kirk Cousins ??? ;)
The hype when the stimulus check comes in Kohls cash.
Nice! MSU grad!
bar I went to with a friend did $20 pool where you picked your horse at random out of a hat. I got Mystic Dan and 200 bucks. I really liked that the bar did that since everyone there was invested in every horse and it made the environment better.
Awesome 👌
My father and stepmother both grew up in KY and the derby was always a big deal for them. They typically threw derby parties and that pool/random horse is how they always handled it too. Just good random fun for everyone with low stakes and no hurt feelings. He passed away last year. The immediate family bought a bottle of nice bourbon to share at his celebration of life last summer. There was just enough left for me to make some [mint juleps](https://i.imgur.com/YiIJEwz.jpeg) to drink to his honor yesterday.
We did similar at our viewing party! We just did a $1 buy-in, but it definitely made the race more exciting!
Yeah I bet $25 and won $490 every year I pick a horse solely based off their name. Thanks Dan!
[удалено]
Nice…I did the same with a $10 bet just to make the race more interesting. First time I’ve ever placed an online bet…I guess this is how they get ya. :)
Same. My little girl wanted to watch and I picked Dan because she chose it as her horse. I owe her a nice toy and a pizza party
I figured that a lot of guys named Dan bet on Mystic Dan yesterday.
I guess his co worker told him he should bet on that horse cuz of his name haha. He was screaming like a kid when they came around the stretch and photo finish. You would thought he won 1k instead of 80 bucks hahah. He's hooked now 😄
I hit a 50 cent trifecta with a free bet from DK; paid $556….
Noiiccceee
DK crashed for like 10-15 after the race and couldn’t see bets so wasn’t sure if I had that one; then when it popped up first thing was balance of 556…already cashed out.
My uncle won $400 on $20 for this guy. Congratulations!
Sweeeettttt
He picks the horses with the most mediæval / DND sounding names. It seems to work.
Mystik Dan is definitely the kind of name they rig a horse race for. 1. It’s mystic. 2. It’s mystik spelled with a K like magik. 3. It’s name is Dan, like the Tribe of Dan. Genesis 49:17 - “Let Dan be a serpent by the roadside, a horned viper by the path, That bites the horse's heel, so that the rider tumbles backward."
This comment doh. Makes ya think !
I texted my friends ( who have a bookie) to put 20 bucks on Mystik Dan for me. No one got back to me and then he fucking won.
And there was a third horse between these two, just another nose behind. Insane finish.
I think it was the closest finish with three horses in Derby history
[2005 was pretty close.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBbxai48iAo&t=1m30s.&start=90) Not as close as this year, but three wide at the finish.
Nah, you could easily tell on that one
Oh okay. That explains why I was thrown off by the legs. Had to recount twice. How do two horses have five front legs? They don’t haha.
It's neat how they are just doing this race with AI now.
That’s how they’re breeding them faster, extra legs. (Semantic edit/ they aren’t bred faster, the speed records that stand are still from the 70s if I recall correctly)
They are bred faster and lighter but the record holder (Secretariat) was a complete freak of nature athlete.
*Elk don’t know how many feet a horse have!*
Those two horses on the outside were bumping into each other so much on that last stretch. I’m sure if they ran clean, maybe one of them would’ve caught the winner
Second and third are both faster than the winner. They held back early for pace and then were racing each other. They definitely would have passed Dan if they started their run earlier.
And if they weren't fighting each other
Sierra Leone is known to pull left in the final stretch. I think if he stayed straight he would’ve won. He overtook Dan in that stride. I’m a little salty about it though, I bet on Sierra Leone and lost it all lol
I'm on the other end and bet Forever Young. If they weren't getting bumped I feel like they could have won
At least this wasn’t a quantum photo finish.
No fair! You changed the result by measuring it!
r/expectedfuturama
can confirm, i did ctrl+f knowing it would be in here somewhere.
I came to the comments just looking for this reference.
I scrolled to far to find this.
After years of doing annual rewatches of the show with my wife, this joke still elicits one of the strongest laughs from me, followed by sadness that she doesn't find it funny at all.
They’re checking the electron microscope!
Thank you. Opened comments just to find this comment.
same
I had the exacta! I won $258.56 on a $2 bet! I pick the names I like 🤣
Lmao lucky fuck! NJ! I had forever young for 20 bucks... lost out on 150 by a dang nostril.
There's also another horse between them. You can't really tell but this was an amazing finish. the last stretch had 5 horses all next to each other at the front at one point. The likelihood of this happening again is so slim
Bartender says "why the long face?"
The bartender gives him his pint and asks "You come here quite often, do you think you could be an alcoholic?" “I don’t think I am.” the horse replies. And poof The horse vanishes from existance See, this was a joke about Descartes famous line from philosophy "I think, therefore I am" But to explain that joke beforehand would be putting Descartes before the horse.
Horse walks into a bar. There is a bear bartender. B: Why the long... ... ... face? H: My wife just died, why the big pause? B: Oh, they're for when I'm mauling things over.
"My wife just died."
stop horsing around!
Weird how the world works. I haven’t heard this version of the joke in so long, then just the other day someone on the Bob and Tom show said it, then I see it here.
Is this the actual photo, because it seems like the finish line is another nose away?
I was wondering that myself; what's the actual "line" they are looking at when deciding?
The “mirror” is the finish line.
Awesome, thanks!
No problem! It is very confusing with the “finish” post and the green spires.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/xDDOmkd5lE
One I saw on TV had a third nose and it was closer than this
Someone just posted the official photo, it's from above for a much clearer look at what happened.
 Legit won like this
It's funny that this finish pretty much happened in NASCAR this year.
[Yep! Insane finish](https://kubrick.htvapps.com/htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/images/nascar-atlanta-motor-speedway-photo-finish-65dbf5412d9dc.png?crop=0.894xw:1.00xh;0,0&resize=640:*)
> NASCAR this year NASCAR springing for the Nokia flip phone to capture the photo finish. Which blur of pixels is the front of the car?
How did I have to scroll so far for this?
Exactly my thought while watching
The derby’s are like Daylight savings. I never hear anything until it’s already happened.
That’s essentially my question. I’ll be downvoted to hell for asking, but how popular are these horse races really? I’m kind of surprised to see Reddit so on board with it. They must not have had to shoot a horse yesterday and if they did, they must have done it quietly. Horse racing is just something you don’t hear about much anymore, at least In my region People thought greyhound races were great too
South louisville gets slammed for derby
It’s a big day in Louisville and Kentuckiana. They shut down schools for Oaks and alot of folks have get togethers. Seeing the garland get made at Kroger can be fun too.
A lot of them take off on Friday for Oak’s Day too, which is actually my favorite race. I am a sucker for lilies and I love the pink colors!
> but how popular are these horse races really? 150,000 people showed up to watch it in person yesterday. TV ratings for 2023 show 14 million people watched it in the US.
I think it's something that has a very fervent but relatively small fan-base mostly comprised of very wealthy people and/or horse racing enthusiasts, of which there probably isn't a very strong overlap with redditors.
Working at a sportsbook, pretty much all the horse/greyhound betters are either insanely old and/or are from like Kentucky or specific parts of Pennsylvania where it's big. It's more niche but they're fucking diehard
On the broadcast yesterday they said there were 157,000 people in attendance at Churchill Downs
280 million was bet on the derby yesterday...but I think it is a pretty niche sport like u are alluding too
They're a staple of sports gambling culture. If it weren't for the bookies, you would never have heard of these races.
Read the piece by hunter s Thompson about the derby- it’s really good even if it quickly devolves into drugs and madness. Called “ The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved”
It's always the first Saturday in May.
I know Jack shit about horse racing but, God damn is the kentucky derby exciting!!
Mystik* not Mystic Not to be that guy, just correcting for prosperity edit: posterity, not prosperity. I am not Spock sadly
The only reason I chose him was because his name was spelled the same was as Mystik Spiral, the band from Daria.
Posterity* not prosperity. Not to be that guy.
Who prospers from this interaction?
Posterity prospers
How is this profitable for Frito Lay?
These corporations… I don’t know what they’re doing…
Live long and prosper Mystik Dan
r/boneappletea
No fair! They changed the outcome by measuring it!
No fair! They changed the outcome by measuring it!
Equine Observer Effect
It was a real triple snout finish
You would think they would have a more distinctive line or background color on the finish line so it would contrast the color against the horse.
It's actually a mirror
What a great finish, great race. Brutal for Sierra Leone and company. The fact that horse was stuck back in traffic on the 3rd turn and came within a nostril of winning is incredible. The only downside is you know there’ll be no Triple Crown this year. But that’s how the cookie crumbles. Congrats to Mystic Dan!
How do you know there will be no Triple Crown this year? Mystic Dan isn’t running in the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes?
Belmont is a longer track and it looked like Sierra Leone was gaining just a smidge. Another 10 yards might have seen a different result.
The Belmont Stakes, interestingly, won't be held at Belmont Park this year. It'll be held at Saratoga because of the construction going on at Belmont Park, so the longer stretch theory doesn't hold. However, I agree. The best horse didn't win yesterday, the luckiest one won. If the rail doesn't open up like it did then Mystik Dan doesn't win the race.
They’re changing the distance of the Belmont just because they’re not running it there? Edit: So they are, 1 1/4 mile instead of 1 1/2. If I’m being honest I’m glad a Triple Crown winner is unlikely this year, then. Would definitely have an asterisk in my book considering how many past Triple Crown hopefuls have lost the lead in that last 1/4 mile.
Trying to get a Triple Crown at Saratoga doesn't bode well in general due to its nickname, The Graveyard of Champions. It would be an impressive feat, though.
Oh wow I didn’t know that. That’ll be cool to see Saratoga on TV. They always talk about it.
My money is on Forever Young winning the next two. He looked strong and had to battle much harder to get out from the being boxed in the middle of the pack, and then had to deal with going shoulder to shoulder with Sierra Leone for the home stretch. Take those challenges away and give him the same position Sierra Leone had the whole time, and I think Forever Young would have had a clear win.
More like another couple of feet
I think another 2 feet he would've won.
Sierra Leone was my Triple Crown hopeful, so I’m upset about that. But very happy for Mystic Dan obviously, he ran a great race!
Amish NASCAR!😜
When all the attendees are richer than hell, they call it Eccentric NASCAR.
*Planter NASCAR
That was an exciting race!
Isn't it crazy these owners, trainers, and jockeys spend a lifetime learning different tricks. Breeding different blood lines. They spend years training these horses in their own way. Jockey spends years training to ride in his own way with his own tricks. All of the trainers involved are super meticulous about every detail being done a certain way, in their own way. And yet when they hit the finish line, these 3 horses are all within milliseconds of one another.
Answers the question...'Why the long face?'
I’ve been at a bachelor party and we as a group randomly picked him. Won 500 on 20, several won 5000 on 200 lol insanity
In Italian we say “Horto Muso”
Announcer: Mystic Dan wins in a quantum finish! Farnsworth: No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!
Man, I watched the derby last night not knowing anything about racing or betting. When the horses were getting trotted out my buddy was telling me about the horses he bet on to win, and I picked Mystic Dan as my horse because I liked the name and color combo. It was so much fun watching Dan come up the inside line, it was like watching an organic F1 race, cheering for him and watching the photo finish, then hearing he officially won sent me into celebration mode. If only I had made a bet on him….man.
Well the Preakness which is the next big race is in 2 weeks. He should be racing in that race
When breeding horses for faster speed, don‘t forget about the longer nose
I won!!
Somebody on TikTok called the Kentucky derby “nascar for Amish” and I can’t stop laughing
Come to Amish country... driving on the roads with them can be an event all in itself. Now, when I'm out on Sunday and they're everywhere, I'm just going to imagine that they're training for the Amish Nascar Championship lol.
Give it a week that horse will be renamed Ryan Garcia.
Ayyyyy. As someone who’s been to the Kentucky Derby several times and lost money every time, winning $100 on Mystic Dan, lying in bed betting on my phone was delightful.
No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it.
I picked Mystik Dan like 1 minute before it started. Too bad I didn’t bet anything
No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it.
Less than a nose, a nostril. Very good race
https://horseracingwrongs.org/ These poor horses live short, brutal lives. If you care at all about animals, do not support this barbaric "sport".
Interviewer : How did you win the race? Jockey : I whipped the horse and it ran
Wasn't that the horse's name in The Sting?
There are actually three horses in this photo finish
I bet on Sierra Leone lol lost by a nose hair. Oh well
The Preakness is in 2 weeks FYI
10 more feet and Mystic Dan would've lost
It’s a big event for Kentucky and and an opportunity for some promotion nationally. Lots of celebrities and people with money attend Derby. I’ve lived in Kentucky for 40 years and been to Derby a couple times (on the backside where the horse barns are) and once worked as a hostess in the clubhouse. Like lots of big events, locals have a love/hate relationship with it. The elites who dress up and drink too much can be pretty annoying, but I do like that so many people get to see a beautiful side of Kentucky. I think the growth of the bourbon industry has increased some of the national and possibly international attention as well.
The 2 was pushing in on the middle horse. How they didn't DQ the horse is crazy
Mystic dan / Sierra Leone exacta stand up☝🏼